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Red Queen
Red Queen
Red Queen
Ebook482 pages7 hours

Red Queen

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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About this ebook

The #1 New York Times bestselling series!

Red Queen, by #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Aveyard, is a sweeping tale of power, intrigue, and betrayal, perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series.

Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction.

One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

Discover more wonders in the world of Red Queen with Broken Throne: A Red Queen Collection, a companion novel with stories from fan favorites and new voices, featuring never-before-seen maps, flags, bonus scenes, journal entries, and much more exclusive content!

Plus don't miss Realm Breaker! Irresistibly action-packed and full of lethal surprises, this stunning fantasy series from Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Red Queen series, begins where hope is lost and asks: When the heroes have fallen, who will take up the sword?

Editor's Note

Anyone can betray anyone…

Mare Barrow has red blood but Silver powers, threatening to destroy the basis of an unjust social caste system with her unwavering strength and wit. A deft debut that blends the best of fantasy and dystopian tropes.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperTeen
Release dateFeb 10, 2015
ISBN9780062310651
Author

Victoria Aveyard

Victoria Aveyard was born and raised in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a small town known only for the worst traffic rotary in the continental United States. She moved to Los Angeles to earn a BFA in screenwriting at the University of Southern California. She currently splits her time between the East and West coasts. As an author and screenwriter, she uses her career as an excuse to read too many books and watch too many movies. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling Red Queen series, and you can visit her online at www.victoriaaveyard.com.

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Reviews for Red Queen

Rating: 4.130576222304833 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mare Barrow struggles for survival in a world where there is a ruling class, the Silvers, who proudly proudly display their superpowers in order to make the powerless Reds feel belittled. The Reds are forced into poverty and are slaves to the Silvers' war. All Reds who don't have any special skills (like sewing, fishing, etc.) by the age of 18 are forced to fight and die in the war. Mare is approaching the age of 18 and is becoming increasingly disobedient to the laws of the Silvers. But she has a few lessons to learn. This is one of the better teen dystopias I've read in a while. The world-building is unique and the characters are engaging. It's unlike many of the dystopias lately in that it gives you the opportunity to see how the bad guys aren't all bad. But it does also has some typical aspects of teen dystopias with female main characters. I'd like to see more teen fantasy/sci-fi with male characters these days, as I find them more to the point and less about messed up romance. Overall, if you like teen dystopia, you'll like this book. If you don't, you won't.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This story took me a while to get into, but about 25% I really started to enjoy it. The build up is slow and then everything seems to happen at once.

    I like the way the characters were developed. They're believable. They seem like they could be people you've met...

    Then come the plot twists... I can honestly say I didn't predict that! Well done with the horrible surprises (and thanks for the one nice one)!

    I'll read the rest of the series to satisfy my curiousity about what happens next!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    “Many things led to this day, for all of us. A forgotten son, a vengeful mother, a brother with a long shadow, a strange mutation. Together, they’ve written a tragedy.”In Victoria Aveyard’s dystopian fantasy, the world encompasses two different types of people: Silvers and Reds. The Silvers are royalty, the rulers, maintaining their authority with the aid of the supernatural powers they possess. Reds are the working class and are treated poorly by Silvers, possessing no powers of their own to fight back. This split between people has always been this way, until a Red discovers that she possesses the powers of a Silver.Mare Barrow, age 17 and a Red, knows her freedom is coming to an end soon. At the age of 18, she’ll be conscripted to fight in the war against the Kingdom of Lakeland because she doesn’t possess any useful talents to keep her home. She’s been resigned to her fate, however, when she discovers her best friend Kilorn will be conscripted as well, she becomes determined to find a way for the two of them to escape knowing he wouldn’t survive a war. She plans to use the skills she does possess, thievery, to obtain enough money to buy their freedom but the plan goes awry when she pickpockets, and is caught except miraculously the boy allows her to escape and gets her a job at the palace instead. It’s revealed that she possesses powers that even she wasn’t aware of, and she becomes a powerful pawn between the Silvers and the Scarlet Guard, the leaders of the Red rebellion.The first half of this book introduces us to the life of a Red, and it’s bleak. The Silvers are painted as brutal tyrants that punish Reds for the smallest of crimes, where food is scarce, and poverty is the norm. The majority have accepted their lot in life, not being able to see any way of overcoming the Silvers. The Scarlet Guard is the heart of the rebellion against the Silvers, and its their help Mare seeks in escaping her and Kilorn’s conscription into war. The world itself isn’t described much outside of Mare’s small village, and while this may be due to the fact that the story was told from her point of view and her view is certainly limited, it would have been nice to be given some semblance of a backstory. All in all, it was still enjoyable and mildly entertaining, at least until the lovey bits were introduced.Tropes and cliches were fairly common, yet like I previously mentioned it still managed to be an entertaining and far from painful read. Yes, there is a love triangle. Yes, there is also a fair amount of insta-love. No, it didn’t make me want to stab myself in the eye so there’s that at least. There’s the requisite special snowflake that becomes a catalyst for change. There’s constant lies and deceit and basically no one can be trusted. There was also a large amount of unlikely scenarios that required a suspension of disbelief. If you’re a fan of fantasy and capable of not taking a story too seriously, this is quite the entertaining read.I’m always leery these days when books come with all the comparisons, and especially when those comparisons have been attached to an ample amount of books already. X-Men, Game of Thrones, Red Rising, Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. And sure, I can see the comparisons, but it never became such an obvious rip-off to completely turn me off from this story. All books are inspired by something, it just depends on the way each author spins it to make it unique and their own. Aveyard may not have completely dazzled me with her debut, however, she aroused my curiosity enough especially with the unexpected ending to continue following this story.“Rise, red as the dawn.”
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If you take Red Queen as a standalone YA, it's great. Especially if you're a younger reader or you're looking for a foot-in-the-door YA/dystopian YA read.

    It has what have become the typical elements of the dystopic YA but Aveyard does a decent job of pulling at the battle worn and battle hardened strings of her characters to reveal an emotional layer that is both plausible and intriguing. This alone will probably lead me to cracking open Glass Sword with a good amount of interest in what comes next.

    What I really enjoyed about Red Queen is the evident growth. If I was to have rated this during the first half of the book I probably would have leaned towards a 2 star rating. The relationships seemed plodding and a bit clumsy, I didn't feel too much of a tug towards any characters or any developing action. The aforementioned elements seemed a creaking structure still being haphazardly soldered together with the spare parts of similar YA. However, I found its rating steadily progressing along with the book. Aveyard makes good use of betrayal and emotional havoc in building up the depth in the last chapters of RQ and I look forward to seeing what she does with these layers in the next book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mare Barrow is a Red in a world where Silvers have all the power, wealth, and special skills that keep them in that position. Reds are pretty much used as slaves to the demands and needs of the Silvers and the society they have created. When Mare finds herself working in the palace and suddenly displays powers unheard of for a Red, she is suddenly drawn into dangerous plots for power and revolution. Of course there seems to be a love triangle and many of the tropes of popular dystopian fiction, but this book still drew me in and left me wondering what would happen next.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Christine from Polandsbananasbooks ranted that mentioning that there is a plot twist in a book is a spoiler. After reading this, I agree with her. Jessethereader had said there was a plot twist, Polandsbananasbooks said that knowing there is a twist makes you try to guess what it is. I correctly guessed two of the twists: I knew that Maven was trying to take the throne, and I knew that Shade was alive. I have to say I was disappointed (even if unsurprised) by Maven's betrayal. Maybe it's for the same reason so many others have been disappointed in this book; it has so many similarities to other books. I don't even know which ones. None come to mind. The first half seemed very unique and unusual, but as it went on, everything started to look familiar. I really wish that Maven had not been a villain. Even though I already knew he would betray Mare, I still thought that he was the only interesting one of the love interests. He could see that Mare had a crush on Cal, yet still, he seemed as though he fell in love with her. He was overlooked, weaker, sadder. He wanted attention, but he was kind. Except for that he wasn't. He was a love interest that was actually interesting. His being a villain ruined everything. Cal is boring. He has power, he's strong, he fell in love with the main character the moment he saw her, she immediately fell for him. He is the love interest that (except for Hunger Games) the main character usually ends up with at the end of the series. I hope not. He's not very interesting as a character, or a love interest. I wish that Mare hadn't had her case of love at first sight with him. I wish she would have kept her heart to herself. It was interesting to see her falling for Maven. We already knew that she would fall for Cal, from the moment he let her go after he caught her pickpocketing him, we knew she'd fall for him. I knew he was a silver the moment that happened. I knew he was the prince.

    Besides the two brothers, there is one other potential love interest. Kilorn. He is the Gale of the series, except for that he's actually nice. He seems to have some jealousy of Mare's other potential love interests, and he gets angry about it, but he isn't nearly such a whiney brat as Gale was. It doesn't seem like Mare views him as a love interest, which is sad because, with Maven as a villain, Kilorn is the other love interest who I actually found interesting. It would be unusual for the best friend of the love triangle to get the girl in the end, and, while Kilorn isn't super interesting right now, he has the potential to be, at least far more that Cal. Kilorn is vulnerable, frightened, protective of Mare, protected by Mare, frightened, weak, willing to work through that weakness to achieve something worthwhile, and he doesn't have a superpower to do so. We don't see much of him in this book,, but he has potential to be a much more interesting character than he is in this book, and to be far more interesting than most of the others. If Maven is irredeemable, then I want Mare to end up with Kilorn. It would at least be something less predictable than the rest of the book.

    There was also a glaringly obvious plot hole: Either King Tiberius and Queen Elara (and the Silver Court) is extremely stupid or in this world, girls don't get periods anymore. Even in the extremely unlikely case that Mare had grown up (in the difficult life of a red, no less) without ever scraping her knee, don't you think that the silvers would have wondered why she didn't figure out she was 'silver' when she started her period. So yeah, the king and queen's story about her being an almost eighteen-year-old silver who was raised by reds and never knew she was a silver until she fell into the electricity shield is one that would not, could not, work to explain her having powers as a red. I mean, I can understand how the men would fall for it since they don't have to deal with periods, and even I took a couple of days after completing this book to think about it, but come on, you can't expect that all of the women in the silver court wouldn't have once in all the time Mare was at court considered that when Mare started her period she would have noticed the color of her blood. My original rating was three stars because, yeah, I did like the book, even if it wasn't exceptional because Aveyard has a really good writing style, but my discovery of this little absurdity was enough to lower my rating to two stars.

    If the characters had been more interesting. If I hadn't guessed the twists. If the only interesting character hadn't turned into an uninteresting villain, if there wasn't a plot whole... This book almost could have been four or even five stars for me, but there were too many disappointments.

    Victoria Aveyard has a wonderful writing style and interesting world building, though there could have been a lot more of it. Most of her characters, while not necessarily interesting, are at least likeable. The only area where her writing really suffers is lack of creativity in characters and plot. I plan to continue reading Aveyard's books, though hopefully she will learn how to be more creative and unusual.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I was vaguely interested in reading Red Queen- my library received the e-book and I grabbed the first checkout so I could see if I would be interested... Turns out I was! I was hooked on Victoria Aveyard's writing. I will be listing her as an influence if I ever write a novel. She's awesome. The storytelling was superb. The first few chapters were about the pick-pocketing and poor Mare Barrow. She lived in the slums and I had a feeling from the title she wasn't going to be staying there for very long. After we see how the silvers behave we really get a sense of the type of world we're going to be seeing. So many fantastic twists and turns happened along the way, and I am so thankful I didn't skip ahead to see how many pages were left in the final few chapters. It would have totally ruined the surprises!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was really expected such great things from this book. There was so much hype surrounding its release that I thought I was going to absolutely love it. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The story itself could have been interesting, but I felt like it was a mash-up of a bunch of other YA novels all crammed into one. Nothing really screamed new or unexpected to me. Sometimes, I felt myself a little lost in the book because the storyline seemed to jump from one place to the other. I really wanted to like it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Oh my GOD! I can't even start a review for this book since it's completely amazing!
    This book reunites every single aspect that I love in YA : it has romance, it has bad guys, it has a female lead, etc.
    Victoria Aveyard you are a queen of fairytales!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    RED QUEEN is a well-written epic fantasy. I enjoyed the characters and the setting. This fantasy world has two kinds of people - silver bloods and red bloods. Mare Barrow is a Red who starts the story as a thief trying to survive and help her family in a world where Reds are the equivalent of slaves to the Silvers. Her three older brothers have been conscripted into the army to fight a war that has been going on for more than 100 years. She faces conscription herself if she doesn't have a job by the time she's 18. Her good friend Kilorn seemed safe. He was apprenticed to a fisherman until his master died and left him jobless.Mare is determined to get Kilorn and herself out and contacts smugglers who are part of a secret Red Guard who are attempting to overthrow the Silvers. When Mare meets Cal one evening, her life changes. Cal, who turns out to be the Silver Crown Prince, gets her a job serving in the King's summer home. An accident there reveals that Mare has psychic powers like the Silvers and changes her life forever. She gets involved in the complex rivalries of the various Silvers and gets involved in the Red Guard too.This story has romance. She first admires Cal and then hates him as their politics tear them apart. She is betrothed to Cal's younger brother Maven and the two become united in overthrowing the Silvers. But there are dangers and betrayals and heartbreak. The pacing was fast and the action constant in this fantasy. While I had some questions about the various psychic powers that the Silvers had, I thought the world building was well done.I look forward to reading more books in this series. I want to see how this world and these characters develop.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    One of the best YA fantasy novels I've read so far this year. I enjoyed the world-building and conceptualization and the general originality, although I did notice a few things that appeared borrowed from other popular YA series (ahem...Hunger Games, Selection, etc.) Overall, an excellent, gripping read and I am eager for this series to continue!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Yes, it’s another dystopian YA novel. (The genre so popular it has a hilarious parody on Twitter—check it out.) Therefore, there are some things you can take for granted. Girl who finds out she’s different from everyone else: check. Love triangle: check. Secret rebellion against the status quo: check. You know what I love about these? Figuring out how the new world’s geography compares to the world we know. And Aveyard makes sure we can figure that out, which was fun. What she didn’t do was tell us how this version of our future came to be. There’s a radiation zone, so nukes must have been involved at some point. Is that how the Silvers developed their special gifts? Don’t know. She doesn’t say.This story doesn’t blaze any particularly new ground to make it stand out from all the other dystopian series out there, but it was an enjoyable read. I will definitely be looking for the further installments as they are released. The description is good, Mare’s feelings are believable, and the characters, overall, behave like real people. Possible objectionable material: A few minor curse words. Violence and perilous situations. Some teenage kissing.Who would like this book: Fans of the genre, of course. Any boy who likes Katniss or Tris will be fine with this. Appropriate for tweens and up. Approximate Lexile: 700
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I admit I purchased Red Queen solely for its cover and for the genre -- dystopian YA lit. While many people are exhausted of dytopias, I still love them. Red Queen is surely not as memorable as The Hunger Games but it does deliver some interesting twists. Occasionally, though, the narrative felt as though it were "reaching."
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Have you ever read a book that you liked, but couldn't quite articulate why you liked it? Red Queen is that book for me. I liked it, but that's about all I can tell you. The writing wasn't bad, but I wasn't highlighting every third line of text either. I was genuinely interested in the plot and characters, but I never became fully invested in them. Basically, I enjoyed reading Red Queen, but it wasn't quite as epic as I'd hoped it would be.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a very good book. I would describe it as fantasy. Mare Barrows not silver but red has the power of silvers. She is set to marry the prince, Maven. Somewhere inside her she has feelings for the other brother Cal who got her the job in the castle and got her into this mess to begin with. When Cal sneaks her into town to visit her family she finds her brother Shade has been killed by the silvers because he tried to dessert the army.n she vows to avenge him and joins the scarlet guard. The book is action packed until the end. Most of the characters are likable. I can't wait for Glass Sword.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I received this free eARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an interesting book. On one hand I like the setting and the unique world that Victoria Aveyard created. But on the other hand this was extremely similar to the other dystopian novels that have been written in the past years. Sure it had its differences, but for the most part people can guess what the plot line will be. I really liked Mare. She was thrown into an impossible situation but was able to determine what she thought needed to be done. However she was also very gullible and trusted anyone who treated her nicely. Given the circumstances though I can see why she would pair up with the people who wanted her trust and power. I also really like the power she found out that she had. Having lighting at your fingertips sounds pretty awesome!I also really liked when, confronted, Mare decided to pick no one instead of choosing one. Mare would rather be alone than be with someone who she cannot trust, which is very rare among female heroines in novels these days. I can see great things for Mare in the following novels because of how she responds and acts to situations. The princes were different but the same. Both were attuned to Mare and they both had their own agenda when it came to their country and the red girl with powers. All I know is I would definitely not want to live in this particular world whether I was red blood or silver blood. I think I'd even pick the Hunger Games world over this one. It seems like in this world neither side will win.Overall this was a decent novel. I'll be interested to see what happens with the characters in the sequel and what Mare will do and her new surroundings.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    First of all, I can't believe this is her first book. The storytelling is so powerful. So vivid. It makes you believe you are actually there. The characters, all of them, are all kinds of complex. Nice, sweet, charming, secretive, dangerous...the list goes on and on.I love stories about monarchies oppressing the "weak". The rebellion's or resistance always make the stories that much more action packed and exciting. Since this fight is between people with special abilities and those who don't have them, it's all so much crazier. There are so many different kinds of these special abilities. There aren't just 3 or 4, there are innumerable types of powers. So each serves its own special purpose in this time of rebellion. Which in turn, makes it difficult for the resistance to pick up speed. Of course, for our main character, Mare, there is a trust issue when dealing with these Silver bloods. And where there is trust, there is betrayal. Lots of betrayal! Which completely changes the whole story and makes it that much better. There is just not enough good things I can say about this book without just telling the story in short form right here. So if you are a fan of books with oppressive governments, royalty, rebellions, characters that do a 180, action, betrayals on a large scale, rags to riches, and of course people with awesome special abilities then I highly recommend this book to you. And if you don't, I think you should read this book anyway, because you might find yourself pleasantly surprised by how much you wind up enjoying it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Red Queen received so much hype. I’m not 100% sure if it was the synopsis or if, in fact, the beautiful cover that made it so hypable. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, it did not live up to expectations. In the beginning and some parts in the middle, I was really enjoying this book, but it went downhill fairly quickly and then lost me. While some aspects were original, it suffered the fate of many YA books, falling into too many clichés. And surprise, there is even a slight love triangle and some insta-love that was really annoying. The setting wasn’t clear enough. For some reason it felt more historical, but had various types of modern things such as cameras and cycles and whatnot.As far as I’m concerned the best characters were Maven, Farley, and Kilorn. Farley was the one character that actually made sense, pointing out the teenage love drama between Mare and Cal. Mare was okay. I had no real issues against her, except the aggravating relationship thing she had going on with Cal. It was unnecessary, I thought, to make them anything more than possible friends. Kilorn, the guy she has known forever, would make more sense than a prince that she hasn’t known for very long. It’s because of Cal that I didn’t like Red Queen as much as I wanted. I hate perfect, golden boy princes who win the heart of girls with no effort whatsoever.I liked Maven, even after what he does later in the story. Heck, he’s the one I feel more sympathy for, I couldn’t feel a thing for Cal even if I tried. I’m so concerned that the next book will only double with Mare/Cal nonsense that I’m hesitant to even want to read it. Red Queen ended on a cliffhanger and I think I may just leave it at that.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Silver and Red: the haves and the have nots, the leaders and the poor village people who are conscripted into the army if they don't have a job, those with superhuman abilities and those without. Mare Barrow is a Red, and a thief who knows her time is growing short as she's close to reaching the age of eighteen and conscription. But a chance encounter sets her on a new course when she realizes she's neither Red nor Silver but something entirely new. Suddenly thrust into a situation in which she must follow the rules set for her or die, she's going to need all her ingenuity to survive.I barely scratched the surface of what this book is about because there were a few times that I expected the story to go a certain way, and it surprised me. I read a lot of young adult fantasy; it's hard to surprise me. But this book did, and I really enjoyed my time reading it. It's one of those borderline fantasy and dystopia books that you could give to either reader, because there's magic but there's also the sense that "it could happen." I liked Mare and even though she makes some mistakes, she's believable and easy to root for. The whole idea of Silver and Red was really intriguing. Though it's definitely the first in a series, it's a complete story in and of itself rather than ending on a cliffhanger. Highly recommended for young adult fantasy readers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fantasy novel, Red Queen, explores a world of silvers and reds.The kingdom is divided by blood. The silvers have silver blood and are the highest social group with power, prestige, and money. They each have their own abilities, from sparking fire to turning to stone. They easily control the reds and keep them “in their place.” The reds are poor, hungry, and at the point of rebellion from the treatment. Mare Barrow is a red and about to be conscripted into the army to fight a war that’s been waging for 100 years when she meets a silver who offers her a job with the royal family.Moving to the royal family home is an eye-opening. Mare sees that some people have food and amenities the reds can only dream of, which increases her anger against the people who sent her three brothers to war. On her first day a disaster occurs that causes Mare to fall, supposedly to her death. Only she makes electricity fly from her fingers. This is unheard of--a red with abilities! Because people saw her, she can’t be killed by the royal family to keep this a secret. The king and queen devise a story that she is truly a lost silver raised by a red family and she will marry the younger prince. Mare begins to see the silvers as people, but she still doesn’t believe in the treatment of the reds. Her loyalties lead her to join a terrorist group. She now must live many lies and hope to survive.Red Queen is a good novel. I enjoyed it although Mare’s willingness to hurt others to keep her and her friends from hurting was too selfish for me to really like her. She’s naive but does have the courage to do what will lead to her death if she is caught. If you like fantasy, you’ll definitely want to read this one. It doesn’t have the depth of Fire or Demon King, but it’s still a pretty good fantasy novel. I will be reading book two when it is released.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele

    Victoria Aveyards „Die Rote Königin“ ist ein typischer Young Adult Dystopie Fantasy Roman, der eine nicht ganz unbekannte Idee mit innovativen, neuen Ansätzen vermischt, aber leider auch mit Vielem, das einfach nicht so wirklich Sinn macht oder mich schlecht und nicht überzeugen konnte. Fangen wir vorne an:

    In der Welt von „Die Rote Königin“ ist die Bevölkerung des Königreichs Norta in zwei Klassen aufgeteilt: den Adel, in dessen Adern silbernes Blut fließt, das sie zu einer Art X-Men macht, und die restliche Bevölkerung, die ganz normales rotes Blut haben.

    Diese Reds Leben nach einem einfachen Prinzip: Sie haben sich für die Silvers kaputt zu schuften und wenn sie keine Lehrstelle finden, wandern sie an die Front. Denn die Elite von Norta befindet sich seit hunderten von Jahren im Krieg mit ihren Nachbarkönigreichen. Das macht nicht so wirklich Sinn! Wieso ist das Land nicht längst pleite? Wieso hat es nicht schon längst alle seine Einwohner an der Front verheizt? Fragen über Fragen, die darauf schließen lassen, dass sich die Autorin nicht so recht mit dem Prinzip Krieg beschäftigt hat.

    Weiter geht es mit der Protagonistin, Mare, die wäre wohl auch an der Front gelandet, hätte sie nicht durch puren Zufall einen Job im Palast der Königsfamilie bekommen. Aber das reicht natürlich noch nicht, sie gerät auch noch mitten hinein in die Brautschau des Prinzen, bei der die Töchter der Adelsfamilien ihre Fähigkeiten unter Beweis zu stellen. Und Zufall, Zufall, es stellt sich heraus, dass Mare – obwohl sie doch eindeutig eine Red ist – auch über X-Men ähnliche Fähigkeiten verfügt. Leider sind ihre Superkräfte auch schon das einzige, was sie irgendwie interessant macht, sonst ist sie quasi spektakulär uninteressant und auch nicht die Hellste.

    Aber das ist hier kaum jemand. So gibt es zwar den einen oder anderen ganz sympathischen Charakter, aber so richtig begeistern konnte mich keiner. Und dann wäre da noch die Sache mit dem Widerstand, dessen Existenz ich zwar verstehen konnte, denkt man aber mal genauer drüber nach, fällt einem auf, wie katastrophal sein Erfolg für die allgemeine Bevölkerung wäre, die er zu befreien versucht.

    Aber egal, Tatsache ist, so sehr mir „Die Rote Königin“ von Victoria Aveyards während des Lesens auch gefallen hat, und das hat mir der Roman eigentlich ziemlich gut – auch wenn mich die Charaktere jetzt nicht richtig begeistern konnte –, nur zwei Wochen nach dem Lesen kann ich mich kaum noch an die Handlung erinnern und musste alles noch einmal nach lesen, weil es doch insgesamt ziemlich 08/15 war.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The writing drew me in to the story immediately and kept me turning the pages. I will say that a lot of the story seemed to be things that have been done to the point of cliches...the evil stepmother, the poor to rich girl, the social class disparity and rebellions. It felt like a mix of the Hunger Games and a lot of fairy tales and fantasy I've read before. It was not hard to guess that who would betray who and some of the story, while well writtenin execution, didn't seem to quite hold up under scrutiny. Some of the powers that the Silvers had seemed too powerful to be controlled and some of the explanations for how their powers worked didn't always seem to make sense when you stopped and really thought about it. That said, and in spite of the cliches, I enjoyed the story and I will more than likely read the second book when it comes out. I think it is going to be made into a movie, and I'm not surprised because the writing was especially visual and colourful and lends itself to being seen on the big screen. I hope the second book has a few surprises and not quite as many things that felt predictable. I also felt the main character was quite naive and I'm still not sure why she felt that she had to go along with everything she was told to do. Was she afraid of being killed? Was it just to keep her family safe? I feel like she constrained herself more than they did in many ways. If being in the public eye was the reason for not killing her immediately, then why not take more chances to say her truth and use her power and position to her own advantage. Like I said... a fast read, but on closer inspection it felt like there were plot holes and threads that didn't seem to hold together as they should.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mare Barrow is your average 'Red' with her 18th birthday looming just around the corner she has accepted that her fate is to join her brothers on the front lines along with all the other hundreds of thousands of 'Reds' who have been conscripted. After all pick pocketing isn't a real job and without one there's no use in trying to fight being sent off to your death. However Mare's world is turned upside down when she has the misfortune of pick pocketing someone faster than she is. Much to her surprise the stranger treats her with kindness and not only offers her more of what she has stolen but the next day she suddenly finds herself with a job. And not just any job. A job at the palace. Serving Silvers isn't Mare's lifelong dream but if it keeps her and her family safe and fed she really can't complain.The Silvers run Mare's world, with they special abilities and endless supply of Red soldiers no one dares to cross them. But when Mare discovers she has abilities of her own- abilities that up until now have only been gifted to Silvers she finds herself in the middle of a political coverup story. After all, if anyone knew Mare's true identity, that she is in fact a 'Red', well then the Royal family would have an uprising on their hands. Mare's cover story is simple, she is the lost daughter of a dead Silver, raised by Reds and only just now learning her true identity. To make it even more believable Mare is now betrothed to marry the Kings second son. Under the watchful eye of the Queen and her ever loyal staff Mare must learn how to control her new powers, cut ties with her 'Red' past and smile for the camera's, all while trying to find a way out of the suffocating world of Silvers and Royals and perhaps even a way to free her people from the Silvers, once and for all. You know in Mean Girls when Tina Fey say's "I'm a pusher!"? Well now so am I! Go. Read. This. Book!I can't even describe to you how amazing "Red Queen" is, every description that I come up with feels inadequate. It's amazing, wonderful, terrifying, beautiful, spectacular, thrilling and addictive! And even all those words strung together like that do NOT do this book justice! I loved every second of Mare's story. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time, it was like a never ending roller coaster, one where you're never quite sure if you're upside down or right side up. Every single character, from the Royals to the maids all radiated with life. It seemed like if I could only get closer to the pages, breathe them in a little, that I would tumble right in and find myself surrounded by Victoria's characters. And what an amazing journey that would've been. You've all been asked the same question countless times, if you could live in any fictional world which would you choose? Well even though Hogwarts is still in first place, at least for me, Mare Barrow's world is now a very close second. My only warning to you is that once you finish the book you will immediately want to get your hands on the second one. I can tell you right now that the absolute second they announce the release date for the sequel I will have a countdown going, and not just a daily one, oh no, it will be down to the minute!Until next time, Ginger In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. My review is my honest opinion.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mare Barrow is a pickpocket, trying to help her family make ends meet until she is conscripted into the army. She will join her older brothers to serve in an unending war that crippled their father. She is a Red, one of the poor who serve the Silvers, the rich and powerful who run their society.One evening she runs into a stranger who she thinks is a servant to aristocrats. He is kind to her even though he caught her stealing from him. Then Mare is summoned to court to become a royal servant herself.The Reds bleed red and have no special powers. The Silvers bleed silver and have various powers, including telekinesis and the ability to invade minds. During a tournament in which aristocratic Silver girls compete for the hands of the two royal princes, Mare and the entire arena discover she’s different.The scheming queen quickly concocts a story about Mare’s supposed past and brings her into the court that is filled with intrigue. She’s to marry the queen’s son, the younger prince, even though she’s often drawn to his older half-brother. There’s also her guilt over the harm she caused her sister and a childhood friend who may now be lost.Aveyard combines a dystopian setting with court intrigue, fantasy elements, a strong heroine determined to help her friends and family, and boys who seem to lie when they tell the truth. The world-building in the first quarter is a bit slow but once Mare arrives at court, it’s nonstop action with a broad range of characters. Each character's motivations are integral to what they do, and make for rich, deep, compelling stories. This is a debut novel that is a completely engaging work.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I don't have a whole lot to say about RED QUEEN so I will just jump right into what I DO have to say. Things I liked about RED QUEEN. I enjoyed the writing. There is a nice flow to the words and the plot had a lot of potential. I liked Mare, she was a little too gullible at times, but I felt like I got to know her by the end. She did a good job of keeping the reason why she was were she was in the front of her mind.My issues with RED QUEEN. There was a lot of predictability. I can't begin to tell you how many times I knew what was coming before it came. I felt like important things were skipped over for less important things, especially with who was killed off. There could have been more backstory and world building, I just didn't feel like we got enough overall by the end of either. I'm a sucker for dystopian so I might read book 2 in hopes that I get some answers to a few things, but I won't be barging in front of the line to get it.* This book was provided free of charge from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When I saw this book on my radar, I wanted to read it. OMG. This book so exceeded my expectations. Right away I was drawn into this world. I was just expecting a historical read. Not for it to be a dark, twisted one. It is kind of like the Tudors meets X-Men. Now if this comparison does not grab your attention, I don't know what will. So this was a nice surprise. Mare turned out to be a strong heroine. I look forward to seeing her grow more in the next book. Cal on the other hand I had to warm up to. This is only because of the way that he was originally portrayed in the story. The author did a great job of putting the twists into the story. Especially towards the ending. I could not stop reading this book and now that I am done. I am sad. Because I am done with the book and have to settle in for a long wait for the next one. Red Queen is a sinfully, delightful, read filled with twists and intriguing characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fast-paced high fantasy adventure, Red Queen introduces Victoria Aveyard's debut trilogy.Perhaps the weakest aspect of Red Queen is its fairly formulaic concept. Aveyard pits an elite group - the Silvers - against an oppressed faction - the Reds. The Silvers, so called because of their silver blood, have a range of special abilities and hold all the wealth and power. The Reds, who bleed red blood, have no such gifts and are used as little more than slave labour or as fodder for the war with neighboring factions, subject to the whims of the ruling class. Enter the Scarlet Dawn, a band of Red rebels determined to overthrow the Silver's."We will rise, red as the dawn."In terms of plot however, the author ably develops exciting conflict, intrigue, and betrayal. There is plenty of tension, high emotion and drama as Mare struggles to deal with the dangerous situation she finds herself trapped in. The story is fast paced with plenty of action and the obligatory romantic triangle, though with a surprising twist.“I see a world on the edge of a blade. Without balance, it will fall.”I liked Mare a lot, she is daring, feisty and loyal to those she loves. She has never simply accepted her lot in life as a Red, rebelling by becoming a petty thief in order to help support her family, and she jumps at the chance to become part of the revolution. Mare's idealism is tempered with a hard earned streak of pragmatism but it proves to be not quite enough to protect her from intrigue of the Silver Court. She makes mistakes, tending to take things at face value, and as such is vulnerable to placing her trust in the wrong people with dramatic consequences."It is impossible. It is foolish. It is our best chance."The other main characters introduced in Red Queen also prove to be interesting, particularly the Silver Princes, Cal and Maven. Their complicated dynamic is integral to the plot development and Aveyard uses it well."He's strong, he's talented, he's powerful - and I'm his shadow. The shadow of the flame."Entertaining and exciting I really enjoyed Red Queen and I am looking forward to the next book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the book Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, a young red blooded girl named Mare discovered she has the powers of a silver blood. She then becomes a princess of the silver bloods and falls for a maven, a prince. His brother Cal falls for Mare and they both get betrayed by maven. They then get taken by the scarlet guard which is a group against the silver bloods. The cover design for this book is a light blue with a bleeding crown. It is appealing because it fits the title and story very well. Readers that would be interested in this book would be into science fiction, and romance.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I wasn't sure about this one at first, but after a few chapters, I was invested.[SPOILERS FOR "RED QUEEN" AND FOR "THE HUNGER GAMES" BELOW]Parts of "Red Queen" reminded me of other recent dystopian YA books. There's an area that's contains dangerous levels of radiation, so no one goes near it. It was no surprise to me that that was a trick and that people were really living there because I've read The Hunger Games. There's also a balcony scene straight out of The Selection.[END SPOILERS]It also has the same common problem of using "highness" and "majesty" interchangeably.But I enjoyed the intrigue, the palace, the relationships, the betrayals, the villains... It's an engaging story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Fun and with a few, unexpected twists. I hope more "gifts" will be discovered as the series continues.

Book preview

Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

ONE

I hate First Friday. It makes the village crowded, and now, in the heat of high summer, that’s the last thing anyone wants. From my place in the shade it isn’t so bad, but the stink of bodies, all sweating with the morning work, is enough to make milk curdle. The air shimmers with heat and humidity, and even the puddles from yesterday’s storm are hot, swirling with rainbow streaks of oil and grease.

The market deflates, with everyone closing up their stalls for the day. The merchants are distracted, careless, and it’s easy for me to take whatever I want from their wares. By the time I’m done, my pockets bulge with trinkets and I’ve got an apple for the road. Not bad for a few minutes’ work. As the throng of people moves, I let myself be taken away by the human current. My hands dart in and out, always in fleeting touches. Some paper bills from a man’s pocket, a bracelet from a woman’s wrist—nothing too big. Villagers are too busy shuffling along to notice a pickpocket in their midst.

The high, stilt buildings for which the village is named (the Stilts, very original) rise all around us, ten feet above the muddy ground. In the spring the lower bank is underwater, but right now it’s August, when dehydration and sun sickness stalk the village. Almost everyone looks forward to the first Friday of each month, when work and school end early. But not me. No, I’d rather be in school, learning nothing in a classroom full of children.

Not that I’ll be in school much longer. My eighteenth birthday is coming, and with it, conscription. I’m not apprenticed, I don’t have a job, so I’m going to be sent to the war like all the other idle ones. It’s no wonder there’s no work left, what with every man, woman, and child trying to stay out of the army.

My brothers went to war when they turned eighteen, all three of them sent to fight Lakelanders. Only Shade can write worth a lick, and he sends me letters when he can. I haven’t heard from my other brothers, Bree and Tramy, in over a year. But no news is good news. Families can go years without hearing a thing, only to find their sons and daughters waiting on the front doorstep, home on leave or sometimes blissfully discharged. But usually you receive a letter made of heavy paper, stamped with the king’s crown seal below a short thank-you for your child’s life. Maybe you even get a few buttons from their torn, obliterated uniforms.

I was thirteen when Bree left. He kissed me on the cheek and gave me a single pair of earrings for my little sister, Gisa, and me to split. They were dangling glass beads, the hazy pink color of sunset. We pierced our ears ourselves that night. Tramy and Shade kept up the tradition when they went. Now Gisa and I have one ear each set with three tiny stones to remind us of our brothers fighting somewhere. I didn’t really believe they’d have to go, not until the legionnaire in his polished armor showed up and took them away one after another. And this fall, they’ll come for me. I’ve already started saving—and stealing—to buy Gisa some earrings when I go.

Don’t think about it. That’s what Mom always says, about the army, about my brothers, about everything. Great advice, Mom.

Down the street, at the crossing of Mill and Marcher roads, the crowd thickens and more villagers join the current. A gang of kids, little thieves in training, flutters through the fray with sticky, searching fingers. They’re too young to be good at it, and Security officers are quick to intervene. Usually the kids would be sent to the stocks, or the jail at the outpost, but the officers want to see First Friday. They settle for giving the ringleaders a few harsh knocks before letting them go. Small mercies.

The tiniest pressure at my waist makes me spin, acting on instinct. I grab at the hand foolish enough to pickpocket me, squeezing tight so the little imp won’t be able to run away. But instead of a scrawny kid, I find myself staring up at a smirking face.

Kilorn Warren. A fisherman’s apprentice, a war orphan, and probably my only real friend. We used to beat each other up as children, but now that we’re older—and he’s a foot taller than me—I try to avoid scuffles. He has his uses, I suppose. Reaching high shelves, for example.

You’re getting faster. He chuckles, shaking off my grip.

Or you’re getting slower.

He rolls his eyes and snatches the apple out of my hand.

Are we waiting for Gisa? he asks, taking a bite of the fruit.

She has a pass for the day. Working.

Then let’s get moving. Don’t want to miss the show.

And what a tragedy that would be.

Tsk, tsk, Mare, he teases, shaking a finger at me. This is supposed to be fun.

"It’s supposed to be a warning, you dumb fool."

But he’s already walking off with his long strides, forcing me to almost trot to keep up. His gait weaves, off balance. Sea legs, he calls them, though he’s never been to the far-off sea. I guess long hours on his master’s fishing boat, even on the river, are bound to have some effect.

Like my dad, Kilorn’s father was sent off to war, but whereas mine returned missing a leg and a lung, Mr. Warren came back in a shoe box. Kilorn’s mother ran off after that, leaving her young son to fend for himself. He almost starved to death but somehow kept picking fights with me. I fed him so that I wouldn’t have to kick around a bag of bones, and now, ten years later, here he is. At least he’s apprenticed and won’t face the war.

We get to the foot of the hill, where the crowd is thicker, pushing and prodding on all sides. First Friday attendance is mandatory, unless you are, like my sister, an essential laborer. As if embroidering silk is essential. But the Silvers love their silk, don’t they? Even the Security officers, a few of them anyway, can be bribed with pieces sewn by my sister. Not that I know anything about that.

The shadows around us deepen as we climb up the stone stairs, toward the crest of the hill. Kilorn takes them two at a time, almost leaving me behind, but he stops to wait. He smirks down at me and tosses a lock of faded, tawny hair out of his green eyes.

Sometimes I forget you have the legs of a child.

Better than the brain of one, I snap, giving him a light smack on the cheek as I pass. His laughter follows me up the steps.

You’re grouchier than usual.

I just hate these things.

I know, he murmurs, solemn for once.

And then we’re in the arena, the sun blazing hot overhead. Built ten years ago, the arena is easily the largest structure in the Stilts. It’s nothing compared to the colossal ones in the cities, but still, the soaring arches of steel, the thousands of feet of concrete, are enough to make a village girl catch her breath.

Security officers are everywhere, their black-and-silver uniforms standing out in the crowd. This is First Friday, and they can’t wait to watch the proceedings. They carry long rifles or pistols, though they don’t need them. As is customary, the officers are Silvers, and Silvers have nothing to fear from us Reds. Everyone knows that. We are not their equals, though you wouldn’t know it from looking at us. The only thing that serves to distinguish us, outwardly at least, is that Silvers stand tall. Our backs are bent by work and unanswered hope and the inevitable disappointment with our lot in life.

Inside the open-topped arena is just as hot as out, and Kilorn, always on his toes, leads me to some shade. We don’t get seats here, just long concrete benches, but the few Silver nobles up above enjoy cool, comfortable boxes. There they have drinks, food, ice even in high summer, cushioned chairs, electric lights, and other comforts I’ll never enjoy. The Silvers don’t bat an eye at any of it, complaining about the wretched conditions. I’ll give them a wretched condition, if I ever have the chance. All we get are hard benches and a few screechy video screens almost too bright and too noisy to stand.

Bet you a day’s wages it’s another strongarm today, Kilorn says, tossing his apple core toward the arena floor.

No bet, I shoot back at him. Many Reds gamble their earnings on the fights, hoping to win a little something to help them get through another week. But not me, not even with Kilorn. It’s easier to cut the bookie’s purse than try to win money from it. You shouldn’t waste your money like that.

"It’s not a waste if I’m right. It’s always a strongarm beating up on someone."

Strongarms usually make up at least one-half of the fights, their skills and abilities better suited to the arena than almost any other Silver. They seem to revel in it, using their superhuman strength to toss other champions around like rag dolls.

What about the other one? I ask, thinking about the range of Silvers that could appear. Telkies, swifts, nymphs, greenys, stoneskins—all of them terrible to watch.

Not sure. Hopefully something cool. I could use some fun.

Kilorn and I don’t really see eye to eye on the Feats of First Friday. For me, watching two champions rip into each other is not enjoyable, but Kilorn loves it. Let them ruin each other, he says. They’re not our people.

He doesn’t understand what the Feats are about. This isn’t mindless entertainment, meant to give us some respite from grueling work. This is calculated, cold, a message. Only Silvers can fight in the arenas because only a Silver can survive the arena. They fight to show us their strength and power. You are no match for us. We are your betters. We are gods. It’s written in every superhuman blow the champions land.

And they’re absolutely right. Last month I watched a swift battle a telky and, though the swift could move faster than the eye could see, the telky stopped him cold. With just the power of his mind, he lifted the other fighter right off the ground. The swift started to choke; I think the telky had some invisible grip on his throat. When the swift’s face turned blue, they called the match. Kilorn cheered. He’d bet on the telky.

Ladies and gentlemen, Silvers and Reds, welcome to First Friday, the Feat of August. The announcer’s voice echoes around the arena, magnified by the walls. He sounds bored, as usual, and I don’t blame him.

Once, the Feats were not matches at all, but executions. Prisoners and enemies of the state would be transported to Archeon, the capital, and killed in front of a Silver crowd. I guess the Silvers liked that, and the matches began. Not to kill but to entertain. Then they became the Feats and spread out to the other cities, to different arenas and different audiences. Eventually the Reds were granted admission, confined to the cheap seats. It wasn’t long until the Silvers built arenas everywhere, even villages like the Stilts, and attendance that was once a gift became a mandatory curse. My brother Shade says it’s because arena cities enjoyed a marked reduction in Red crime, dissent, even the few acts of rebellion. Now Silvers don’t have to use execution or the legions or even Security to keep the peace; two champions can scare us just as easily.

Today, the two in question look up to the job. The first to walk out onto the white sand is announced as Cantos Carros, a Silver from Harbor Bay in the east. The video screen blares a clear picture of the warrior, and no one needs to tell me this is a strongarm. He has arms like tree trunks, corded and veined and straining against his own skin. When he smiles, I can see all his teeth are gone or broken. Maybe he ran afoul of his own toothbrush when he was a growing boy.

Next to me, Kilorn cheers and the other villagers roar with him. A Security officer throws a loaf of bread at the louder ones for their trouble. To my left, another hands a screaming child a bright yellow piece of paper. ’Lec papers—extra electricity rations. All of it to make us cheer, to make us scream, to force us to watch, even if we don’t want to.

That’s right, let him hear you! the announcer drawls, forcing as much enthusiasm into his voice as he can. And here we have his opponent, straight from the capital, Samson Merandus.

The other warrior looks pale and weedy next to the human-shaped hunk of muscle, but his blue steel armor is fine and polished to a high sheen. He’s probably the second son of a second son, trying to win renown in the arena. Though he should be scared, he looks strangely calm.

His last name sounds familiar, but that’s not unusual. Many Silvers belong to famous families, called houses, with dozens of members. The governing family of our region, the Capital Valley, is House Welle, though I’ve never seen Governor Welle in my life. He never visits it more than once or twice a year, and even then, he never stoops to entering a Red village like mine. I saw his riverboat once, a sleek thing with green-and-gold flags. He’s a greeny, and when he passed, the trees on the bank burst into blossom and flowers popped out of the ground. I thought it was beautiful, until one of the older boys threw rocks at his boat. The stones fell harmlessly into the river. They put the boy in the stocks anyway.

It’ll be the strongarm for sure.

Kilorn frowns at the small champion. How do you know? What’s Samson’s power?

Who cares, he’s still going to lose, I scoff, settling in to watch.

The usual call rings out over the arena. Many rise to their feet, eager to watch, but I stay seated in silent protest. As calm as I might look, anger boils in my skin. Anger, and jealousy. We are gods, echoes in my head.

Champions, set your feet.

They do, digging in their heels on opposite sides of the arena. Guns aren’t allowed in arena fights, so Cantos draws a short, wide sword. I doubt he’ll need it. Samson produces no weapon, his fingers merely twitching by his side.

A low, humming electric tone runs through the arena. I hate this part. The sound vibrates in my teeth, in my bones, pulsing until I think something might shatter. It ends abruptly with a chirping chime. It begins. I exhale.

It looks like a bloodbath right away. Cantos barrels forward like a bull, kicking up sand in his wake. Samson tries to dodge Cantos, using his shoulder to slide around the Silver, but the strongarm is quick. He gets hold of Samson’s leg and tosses him across the arena like he’s made of feathers. The subsequent cheers cover Samson’s roar of pain as he collides with the cement wall, but it’s written on his face. Before he can hope to stand, Cantos is over him, heaving him skyward. He hits the sand in a heap of what can only be broken bones but somehow rises to his feet again.

Is he a punching bag? Kilorn laughs. Let him have it, Cantos!

Kilorn doesn’t care about an extra loaf of bread or a few more minutes of electricity. That’s not why he cheers. He honestly wants to see blood, Silver blood—silverblood—stain the arena. It doesn’t matter that the blood is everything we aren’t, everything we can’t be, everything we want. He just needs to see it and trick himself into thinking they are truly human, that they can be hurt and defeated. But I know better. Their blood is a threat, a warning, a promise. We are not the same and never will be.

He’s not disappointed. Even the box seats can see the metallic, iridescent liquid dripping from Samson’s mouth. It reflects the summer sun like a watery mirror, painting a river down his neck and into his armor.

This is the true division between Silvers and Reds: the color of our blood. This simple difference somehow makes them stronger, smarter, better than us.

Samson spits, sending a sunburst of silverblood across the arena. Ten yards away, Cantos tightens his grip on his sword, ready to incapacitate Samson and end this.

Poor fool, I mutter. It seems Kilorn is right. Nothing but a punching bag.

Cantos pounds through the sand, sword held high, eyes on fire. And then he freezes midstep, his armor clanking with the sudden stop. From the middle of the arena, the bleeding warrior points at Cantos, with a stare to break bone.

Samson flicks his fingers and Cantos walks, perfectly in time with Samson’s movements. His mouth falls open, like he’s gone slow or stupid. Like his mind is gone.

I can’t believe my eyes.

A deathly quiet falls over the arena as we watch, not understanding the scene below us. Even Kilorn has nothing to say.

A whisper, I breathe aloud.

Never before have I seen one in the arena—I doubt anyone has. Whispers are rare, dangerous, and powerful, even among the Silvers, even in the capital. The rumors about them vary, but it boils down to something simple and chilling: they can enter your head, read your thoughts, and control your mind. And this is exactly what Samson is doing, having whispered his way past Cantos’s armor and muscle, into his very brain, where there are no defenses.

Cantos raises his sword, hands trembling. He’s trying to fight Samson’s power. But strong as he is, there’s no fighting the enemy in his mind.

Another twist of Samson’s hand and silverblood splashes across the sand as Cantos plunges his sword straight through his armor, into the flesh of his own stomach. Even up in the seats, I can hear the sickening squelch of metal cutting through meat.

As the blood gushes from Cantos, gasps echo across the arena. We’ve never seen so much blood here before.

Blue lights flash to life, bathing the arena floor in a ghostly glow, signaling the end of the match. Silver healers run across the sand, rushing to the fallen Cantos. Silvers aren’t supposed to die here. Silvers are supposed to fight bravely, to flaunt their skills, to put on a good show—but not die. After all, they aren’t Reds.

Officers move faster than I’ve ever seen before. A few are swifts, rushing to and fro in a blur as they herd us out. They don’t want us around if Cantos dies on the sand. Meanwhile, Samson strides from the arena like a titan. His gaze falls on Cantos’s body, and I expect him to look apologetic. Instead, his face is blank, emotionless, and so cold. The match was nothing to him. We are nothing to him.

In school, we learned about the world before ours, about the angels and gods that lived in the sky, ruling the earth with kind and loving hands. Some say those are just stories, but I don’t believe that.

The gods rule us still. They have come down from the stars. And they are no longer kind.

TWO

Our house is small, even by Stilts standards, but at least we have a view. Before his injury, during one of his army leaves, Dad built the house high so we could see across the river. Even through the haze of summer you can see the cleared pockets of land that were once forest, now logged into oblivion. They look like a disease, but to the north and west, the untouched hills are a calm reminder. There is so much more out there. Beyond us, beyond the Silvers, beyond everything I know.

I climb the ladder up to the house, over worn wood shaped to the hands that ascend and descend every day. From this height I can see a few boats heading upriver, proudly flying their bright flags. Silvers. They’re the only ones rich enough to use private transportation. While they enjoy wheeled transports, pleasure boats, even high-flying airjets, we get nothing more than our own two feet, or a push cycle if we’re lucky.

The boats must be heading to Summerton, the small city that springs to life around the king’s summer residence. Gisa was there today, aiding the seamstress she is apprenticed to. They often go to the market there when the king visits, to sell her wares to the Silver merchants and nobles who follow the royals like ducklings. The palace itself is known as the Hall of the Sun, and it’s supposed to be a marvel, but I’ve never seen it. I don’t know why the royals have a second house, especially since the capital palace is so fine and beautiful. But like all Silvers, they don’t act out of need. They are driven by want. And what they want, they get.

Before I open the door to the usual chaos, I pat the flag fluttering from the porch. Three red stars on yellowed fabric, one for each brother, and room for more. Room for me. Most houses have flags like this, some with black stripes instead of stars in quiet reminder of dead children.

Inside, Mom sweats over the stove, stirring a pot of stew while my father glares at it from his wheelchair. Gisa embroiders at the table, making something beautiful and exquisite and entirely beyond my comprehension.

I’m home, I say to no one in particular. Dad answers with a wave, Mom a nod, and Gisa doesn’t look up from her scrap of silk.

I drop my pouch of stolen goods next to her, letting the coins jingle as much as they can. I think I’ve got enough to get a proper cake for Dad’s birthday. And more batteries, enough to last the month.

Gisa eyes the pouch, frowning with distaste. She’s only fourteen but sharp for her age. One day people are going to come and take everything you have.

Jealousy doesn’t become you, Gisa, I scold, patting her on the head. Her hands fly up to her perfect, glossy red hair, brushing it back into her meticulous bun.

I’ve always wanted her hair, though I’d never tell her that. Where hers is like fire, my hair is what we call river brown. Dark at the root, pale at the ends, as the color leeches from our hair with the stress of Stilts life. Most keep their hair short to hide their gray ends but I don’t. I like the reminder that even my hair knows life shouldn’t be this way.

I’m not jealous, she huffs, returning to her work. She stitches flowers made of fire, each one a beautiful flame of thread against oily black silk.

That’s beautiful, Gee. I let my hand trace one of the flowers, marveling at the silky feel of it. She glances up and smiles softly, showing even teeth. As much as we fight, she knows she’s my little star.

And everyone knows I’m the jealous one, Gisa. I can’t do anything but steal from people who can actually do things.

Once she finishes her apprenticeship, she’ll be able to open her own shop. Silvers will come from all around to pay her for handkerchiefs and flags and clothing. Gisa will achieve what few Reds do and live well. She’ll provide for our parents and give me and my brothers menial jobs to get us out of the war. Gisa is going to save us one day, with nothing more than needle and thread.

Night and day, my girls, Mom mutters, running a finger through graying hair. She doesn’t mean it as an insult but a prickly truth. Gisa is skilled, pretty, and sweet. I’m a bit rougher, as Mom kindly puts it. The dark to Gisa’s light. I suppose the only common things between us are the shared earrings, the memory of our brothers.

Dad wheezes from his corner and hammers his chest with a fist. This is common, since he has only one real lung. Luckily the skill of a Red medic saved him, replacing the collapsed lung with a device that could breathe for him. It wasn’t a Silver invention, as they have no need for such things. They have the healers. But healers don’t waste their time saving the Reds, or even working on the front lines keeping soldiers alive. Most of them remain in the cities, prolonging the lives of ancient Silvers, mending livers destroyed by alcohol and the like. So we’re forced to indulge in an underground market of technology and inventions to help better ourselves. Some are foolish, most don’t work—but a bit of clicking metal saved my dad’s life. I can always hear it ticking away, a tiny pulse to keep Dad breathing.

I don’t want cake, he grumbles. I don’t miss his glance toward his growing belly.

"Well, tell me what you do want, Dad. A new watch or—"

"Mare, I do not consider something you stole off someone’s wrist to be new."

Before another war can brew in the Barrow house, Mom pulls the stew off the stove. Dinner is served. She brings it to the table, and the fumes wash over me.

It smells great, Mom, Gisa lies. Dad is not so tactful and grimaces at the meal.

Not wanting to be shown up, I force down some stew. It’s not as bad as usual, to my pleasant surprise. You used that pepper I brought you?

Instead of nodding and smiling and thanking me for noticing, she flushes and doesn’t answer. She knows I stole it, just like all my gifts.

Gisa rolls her eyes over her soup, sensing where this is going.

You’d think by now I’d be used to it, but their disapproval wears on me.

Sighing, Mom lowers her face into her hands. Mare, you know I appreciate—I just wish—

I finish for her. That I was like Gisa?

Mom shakes her head. Another lie. No, of course not. That’s not what I meant.

Right. I’m sure they can sense my bitterness on the other side of the village. I try my best to keep my voice from breaking. It’s the only way I can help out before—before I go away.

Mentioning the war is a quick way to silence my house. Even Dad’s wheezing stops. Mom turns her head, her cheeks flushing red with anger. Under the table, Gisa’s hand closes around mine.

I know you’re doing everything you can, for the right reasons, Mom whispers. It takes a lot for her to say this, but it comforts me all the same.

I keep my mouth shut and force a nod.

Then Gisa jumps in her seat, like she’s been shocked. Oh, I almost forgot. I stopped at the post on the way back from Summerton. There was a letter from Shade.

It’s like setting off a bomb. Mom and Dad scramble, reaching for the dirty envelope Gisa pulls out of her jacket. I let them pass it over, examining the paper. Neither can read, so they glean whatever they can from the paper itself.

Dad sniffs the letter, trying to place the scent. Pine. Not smoke. That’s good. He’s away from the Choke.

We all breathe a sigh of relief at that. The Choke is the bombed-out strip of land connecting Norta to the Lakelands, where most of the war is fought. Soldiers spend the majority of their time there, ducking in trenches doomed to explode or making daring pushes that end in a massacre. The rest of the border is mainly lake, though in the far north it becomes tundra too cold and barren to fight over. Dad was injured at the Choke years ago, when a bomb dropped on his unit. Now the Choke is so destroyed by decades of battle, the smoke of explosions is a constant fog and nothing can grow there. It’s dead and gray, like the future of the war.

He finally passes the letter over for me to read, and I open it with great anticipation, both eager and afraid to see what Shade has to say.

Dear family, I am alive. Obviously.

That gets a chuckle out of Dad and me, and even a smile from Gisa. Mom is not as amused, even though Shade starts every letter like this.

We’ve been called away from the front, as Dad the Bloodhound has probably guessed. It’s nice, getting back to the main camps. It’s Red as the dawn up here, you barely even see the Silver officers. And without the Choke smoke, you can actually see the sun rise stronger every day. But I won’t be in for long. Command plans to repurpose the unit for lake combat, and we’ve been assigned to one of the new warships. I met a medic detached from her unit who said she knew Tramy and that he’s fine. Took a bit of shrapnel retreating from the Choke, but he recovered nicely. No infection, no permanent damage.

Mom sighs aloud, shaking her head. No permanent damage, she scoffs.

Still nothing about Bree but I’m not worried. He’s the best of us, and he’s coming up on his five-year leave. He’ll be home soon, Mom, so stop your worrying. Nothing else to report, at least that I can write in a letter. Gisa, don’t be too much of a show-off even though you deserve to be. Mare, don’t be such a brat all the time, and stop beating up that Warren boy. Dad, I’m proud of you. Always. Love all of you.

Your favorite son and brother, Shade.

Like always, Shade’s words pierce through us. I can almost hear his voice if I try hard enough. Then the lights above us suddenly start to whine.

Did no one put in the ration papers I got yesterday? I ask before the lights flicker off, plunging us into darkness. As my eyes adjust, I can just see Mom shaking her head.

Gisa groans. Can we not do this again? Her chair scrapes as she stands up. I’m going to bed. Try not to yell.

But we don’t yell. Seems to be the way of my world—too tired to fight. Mom and Dad retreat to their bedroom, leaving me alone at the table. Normally I’d slip out, but I can’t find the will to do much more than go to sleep.

I climb up yet another ladder to the loft, where Gisa is already snoring. She can sleep like no other, dropping off in a minute or so, while it can sometimes take me hours. I settle into my cot, content to simply lie there and hold Shade’s letter. Like Dad said, it smells strongly of pine.

The river sounds nice tonight, tripping over stones in the bank as it lulls me to sleep. Even the old fridge, a rusty battery-run machine that usually whines so hard it hurts my head, doesn’t trouble me tonight. But then a birdcall interrupts my descent into sleep. Kilorn.

No. Go away.

Another call, louder this time. Gisa stirs a little, rolling over into her pillow.

Grumbling to myself, hating Kilorn, I roll out of my cot and slide down the ladder. Anyone else would have tripped over the clutter in the main room, but I have great footing thanks to years of running from officers. I’m down the stilt ladder in a second, landing ankle-deep in the mud. Kilorn is waiting, appearing out of the shadows beneath the house.

I hope you like black eyes because I have no problem giving you one for this—

The sight of his face stops me short.

He’s been crying. Kilorn does not cry. His knuckles are bleeding too, and I bet there’s a wall hurting just as hard somewhere nearby. In spite of myself, in spite of the late hour, I can’t help but feel concerned, even scared for him.

What is it? What’s wrong? Without thinking, I take his hand in mine, feeling the blood beneath my fingers. What happened?

He takes a moment to respond, working himself up. Now I’m terrified.

My master—he fell. He died. I’m not an apprentice anymore.

I try to hold in a gasp, but it echoes anyway, taunting us. Even though he doesn’t have to, even though I know what he’s trying to say, he continues.

I hadn’t even finished training and now— He trips over his words. "I’m eighteen. The other fishermen have apprentices. I’m not working. I can’t get work."

The next words are like a knife in my heart. Kilorn draws a ragged breath, and somehow I wish I wouldn’t have to hear him.

They’re going to send me to the war.

THREE

It’s been going on for the better part of the last hundred years. I don’t think it should even be called a war anymore, but there isn’t a word for this higher form of destruction. In school they told us it started over land. The Lakelands are flat and fertile, bordered by immense lakes full of fish. Not like the rocky, forested hills of Norta, where the farmlands can barely feed us. Even the Silvers felt the strain, so the king declared war, plunging us into a conflict neither side could really win.

The Lakelander king, another Silver, responded in kind, with the full support of his own nobility. They wanted our rivers, to get access to a sea that wasn’t frozen half the year, and the water mills dotting our rivers. The mills are what make our country strong, providing enough electricity so that even the Reds can have some. I’ve heard rumors of cities farther south, near the capital, Archeon, where greatly skilled Reds build machines beyond my comprehension. For transport on land, water, and sky, or weapons to rain destruction wherever the Silvers might need. Our teacher proudly told us Norta was the light of the world, a nation made great by our technology and power. All the rest, like the Lakelands or Piedmont to the south, live in darkness. We were lucky to be born here. Lucky. The word makes me want to scream.

But despite our electricity, the Lakelander food, our weapons, their numbers, neither side has much advantage over the other. Both have Silver officers and Red soldiers, fighting with abilities and guns and the shield of a thousand Red bodies. A war that was supposed to end less than a century ago still drags on. I always found it funny that we fought over food and water. Even the high-and-mighty Silvers need to eat.

But it isn’t funny now, not when Kilorn is going to be the next person I say good-bye to. I wonder if he’ll give me an earring so I can remember him when the polished legionnaire takes him away.

One week, Mare. One week and I’m gone. His voice cracks, though he coughs to try to cover it up. I can’t do this. They—they won’t take me.

But I can see the fight going out of his eyes.

There must be something we can do, I blurt out.

There’s nothing anyone can do. No one has escaped conscription and lived.

He doesn’t need to tell me that. Every year, someone tries to run. And every year, they’re dragged back to the town square and hanged.

No. We’ll find a way.

Even now, he finds the strength to smirk at me. We?

The heat in my cheeks surges faster than any flame. I’m doomed for conscription same as you, but they’re not going to get me either. So we run.

The army has always been my fate, my punishment, I know that. But not his. It’s already taken too much from him.

There’s nowhere we can go, he sputters, but at least he’s arguing. At least he’s not giving up. We’d never survive the north in winter, the east is the sea, the west is more war, the south is radiated to all hell—and everywhere in between is crawling with Silvers and Security.

The words pour out of me like a river. So is the village. Crawling with Silvers and Security. And we manage to steal right under their noses and escape with our heads. My mind races, trying my hardest to find something, anything, that might be of use. And then it hits me like a bolt of lightning. "The black-market trade, the one we help keep running, smuggles everything from grain to lightbulbs. Who’s to say they can’t smuggle people?"

His mouth opens, about to spout a thousand reasons why this won’t work. But then he smiles. And nods.

I don’t like getting involved with other people’s business. I don’t have time for it. And yet here I am, listening to myself say four dooming words.

Leave everything to me.

The things we can’t sell to the usual shop owners we have to take to Will Whistle. He’s old, too feeble to work the lumberyards, so he sweeps the streets by day. At night, he sells everything you could want out of his moldy wagon, from heavily restricted coffee to exotics from Archeon. I was nine with a fistful of stolen buttons when I took my chances with Will. He paid me three copper pennies for them, no questions asked. Now I’m his best customer and probably the reason he manages to

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